So, as everyone knows by now I am a huge girls wrestling fan and supporter. I have done everything I could do in my position to try and help promote girls wrestling and those who are a part of this great sport. When the FHSAA officially sanctioned girls high school wrestling I was head over heels happy. From the very beginning I could pick out a few girls who I felt have what it takes to become what people would consider an elite HS wrestler. Some are still working towards that elite level and some are already there.
On February 29th, March 1st-March 2nd, 2024 I was able to travel to Kissimmee, Florida to watch the FHSAA IBT State Championships for both boys and girls. I watched a ton of great matches and I even saw some pretty big upsets. What I remember most from everything I watched was how intense and hard these girls in Florida competed. I saw 7th and 8th grade girls wrestling in the high school division and not only winning but one actually made it to the state finals! These are middle school girls who attend charter schools or private K-12 schools which allow 6th,7th and 8th graders to wrestle at the varsity level if they’re good enough to make the team. If K-12 is under one roof, you can wrestle for the high school team.
Starting at the lightest weight class which is 100 pounds for the girls, we had two middle schoolers get on to the podium. Mia Parker, an 8th grader at First Baptist-Naples placed the highest of the two by placing 6th in the state. Mia finished her high school year of varsity wrestling with an impressive 27-8 record against mostly all upper classmen. Finishing in 7th place was a 7th grader, Paola Perez of Doral Academy in Dade County. Paola finished up her high school year of varsity wrestling with a record of 22-4. In her match for 7th place she defeated a high school sophomore, Miabella Lopez of Orlando-Freedom HS. Miabella has been in and out of the TFWR state ranking all year.
TFWR only ranks the top 8 girls in the state. I feel if I ranked 20 in each weight class like other organizations do, you’ll have to rank girls with very few wins due to the fact that the numbers for the girls arent quite there yet. So pretty much every girl in each weight class would be ranked and I don’t feel that’s right. To be ranked, you should be one of the best in the state in your weight class. So, being that the state places the top 8 at the state championships, I only rank the top 8 girls in each weight class. It means something to be ranked by TFWR. It shows the ranking committee thinks you are one of the best 8 girls in the entire state in your respective weight class. That’s definitely something to be proud of.
At 105 pounds, only one middle schooler was good enough to make the podium. She not only made the podium but she wrestled her way into the state finals! Abigail Gonzalez of Mater Lakes Academy in Miami is only an 8th grader who entered the state tournamnet with a perfect 13-0 record. The bracketing Gods were good to her and she found herself on the opposite side of the defending, undefeated state and national champion Gabby Tedesco of Lake Gibson HS. Abigail took advantage of her favorable bracketing and beat everyone in her path to earn herself a trip to the 105 pound state finals. In the finals, Gonzalez would eventually meet Gabby Tedesco for the state title and very few people gave her a fighting chance. Abigail Gonzalez didn’t care what anyone else thought about her chances, she went out there and wrestled her heart out and lost by a very respectable 7-2 regular decision. Most girls don’t even make it out of the first period with Gabby, much less make it through the entire match and only lose by regular decision. I must commend Abigail Gonzalez on a job well done. The super 8th grader can now all herself an FHSAA State Runner-Up!
Zoe Delgado is only in the 7th grade but she didnt let that stop her from getting on the podium Saturday night . Zoe wrestles for Florida Christian School and finished her year of high school varsity wrestling with an incredible 31 wins in the 110 pound weight class. She also has an 8th place state medal around her neck to prove it. Zoe finished 8th at the state tournament in the 110 pound weight class, which was considered one of the toughest weight classes in the tournament. She lost her final match to top ranked Reagan Thomas, a senior from Naples HS. Thomas had been ranked as high as #2 at one point in the year and beat Zoe Delgado by a close 6-3 decision.
Girls wrestling is growing at a rapid rate. With these middle school girls competing in high school and having the great success they are having, they’re sure to attract other young girls who will want to give wrestling a try. We can only hope this is true and we can continue to grow girls wrestling in Florida. Our high school girls proved to the entire country that Florida girls wrestling is no joke. Our girls national team went to Fargo, North Dakota over the summer and we came home with FOUR Fargo National Champions!! For those who don’t know, Fargo is the toughest national tournament in the country by far. Every top nationally ranked girl is in attendance and competes for a Fargo National Title. We brought home four “stop signs” from our girls and that’s something we can be very proud of and even brag about! Don’t know what I mean when I said we brought home four stop signs? Well, at Fargo each national champion in each weight class is awarded a huge plaque shaped like a stop sign. So over the years everyone would tell the kids going to Fargo to go win yourself a stop sign. Now everyone refers to the award as a stop sign.
Overall, I thought the girls side of the state championships offered some of the most exciting matches in the entire arena. In the 11o pound semi-finals we saw #2 ranked Erin Rizzuto of Ponte Vedra HS wrestle her Phoenix club teammate and good friend #3 ranked Kiki Bush of Hudson HS. These two girls train together at Phoenix wrestling club so they are definitely very familiar with each others styles. The match was 0-0 halfway through the third period, when Bush was able get a takedown for a 2-0 lead. Bush was riding rizzuto but got a bit too high and Rizzuto was able to get the reversal and a quick two nearfall for a 4-2 decision and a trip to the state finals. Kiki Bush being the true warrior and champion she is was able to regroup and she came back to win the rest of her matches to snag the next best thing, a bronze medal. Kiki finished with a 3rd place state finish which was two places better than last year, as she placed 5th at the state tourney in 2023. Both girls are champions in my eyes and I can’t wait to see them both win state titles next year. Mark my words, these are not satisfied with 2nd and 3rd place. Most girls would give their left arm to be standing that high on the state podium, but if you knew these two wrestlers like I do, you would know they arent like most girls! While I am sure they are both happy and very proud of their accomplishments this year, I know they’ll be back to training very soon. maybe a week or two off to relax but then they’ll be back to the grind. This is what separates the good from the elite.
Another match that had me on the edge of my seat was at 100 pounds. #1 ranked Camdyn Elliott of Gulf Breeze HS would take on #2 ranked Joslyn Johnson of Flagler Palm Coast. Both girls are sophomores and Johnson had a season record of 32-5 enetring the match while Elliott entered with a perfect 29-0 record. Elliott had been ranked #1 by TFWR the entire season and was favored to take the state title at this weight class. Johnson was ranked right behind her but had taken 5 losses during the season. The match had the entire arena screaming and standing on their feet as Johnson pulled of an upset most were not expecting to happen. She beat Elliott by a very tight 4-3 decision. It just goes to show you that at that level, anyone is capable of winning no matter what they’re ranked or how many wins or losses they have. Both girls are only in the 10th grade and we have the priviledge of watching them both for the next two years.
One girl I need to mention is a girl who you may not have heard much about. Not because she’s not a good wrestler, she’s very good and was competing at the state tournament with the rest of the top girls in the state. It’s only because the school she wrestles for doesnt have a huge girls program yet. I’m talking about Jordyn Scheichel of Bayside HS. Jordyn wrestled at the state championships in the 140 pound weight class. It was her first trip to the big show and she got no help from the bracketing Gods. Her very first match was against Kristy More of Sunlake HS. More is a junior who entered the state tournament with a 26-1 record and she’s been ranked all year by TFWR. Jordyn wrestled her best but couldn’t get past More. More went on to place 3rd at the state championships after losing only one match in the semi-finals to the eventual state champion Sofia Delgado of Miami Coral Park. Other than her loss to Delgado, More mowed through her opponents on her way to a 3rd place state finish. In More’s match for 3rd place she won by a pin in only 0:31 seconds of the very first period. I would say she made quite a statement with that win.
Many first timers to the big show would have completely fallen apart after losing their very first match. Jordyn is NOT like most girls though. Her father is a former wrestler and now a wrestling coach. he is also a very supportive and loving father. I don’t know exactly what he told her after her loss but whatever it was, it worked. In her very next match, the match that could eliminate her from the tournament if she were to lose again, she went out there like a true champion and did what she had to do. Apparently she put the first loss behind her and out of her mind. Jordyn would face Palmetto Ridge HS’s Jasmine Toomer who had 24 wins on the season entering into the state chanmpionships. Jordyn took it to her and was able to secure a win by PIN! Just :34 seconds into the second period Jordyn Schmeichel proved to herself and everyone else that she desrved to be in the top 16 in her weight class by pinning Toomer and advancing to the next round. In her third match Jordyn had a very tough Isabella Tolentino of East River HS, another girl who’s been in the TFWR top 8 state rankings. Unfortunately Jordyn fell short against Tolentino and was eliminated from the state tournament. What I can tell you is this, Jordyn Schmeichel has a lions heart and gave it everything she had. She finished top 12 in the state at 140 pounds AND the two girls she lost to were on the podium!!! More placed 3rd and Tolentino placed 5th. So, when you think about it, Jordyn had a hell of a first state tournament actually. She was able to overcome a loss in the first round of the state tournament to bounce back and get a win by PIN over a girl who had over 24 wins this season. She kept herself alive and was still wrestling when 4 other girls had already been eliminated. I feel with a little luck from the bracketing Gods Jordyn just may have found herself on the podium. It’s hard enough to win at the state tourney much less against two of the top girls in the weight class. She thought bshe was top 16 in the stte but she was wrong. She is top 12 in the state! I’m very proud of Jordyn Scheichel and I wanted her to know she can walk with her head held high because she proved that she was supposed to be there. I was lucky enough to meet her for the first time before and after her second loss. I can tell you that as good of a competitor as she is, she’s even a better young lady. Im a Jordyn Schmeichel fan for sure.
There were so many great matches on the girls side of the state tournament, but the ones I mentioned stood out the most to me. Please continue to follow and support girls wrestling in Florida because they not only work as hard as everyone else but they deserve the attention and the publicity. These girls bring an intensity to the sport that you don’t always see. They have done so much for the sport as a whole, so let’s keep showing these girls how we feel about what they’re doing and keep them motivated to continue competing at the level they are competing at.